Engaging in the media battle space

AP/MSNBC:

Shaping the Bush administration’s message on the Iraq war has taken on new fervor, just as anticipation is building for the September progress report from top military advisers.

For the Pentagon, getting out Iraq information will now include a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week Iraq Communications Desk that will pump out data from Baghdad — serving as what could be considered a campaign war room.

According to a memo circulated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant defense secretary for public affairs, is looking for personnel for what he called the high-priority effort to distribute Defense Department information on Iraq.

The move — requested by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England — comes as administration officials are gearing up for a rash of reports on progress in Iraq and recommendations from the military on troop levels going into next year. The key report will come from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Other reports are expected from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, retired Gen. James Jones — who will examine the progress of the Iraqi security forces — and the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, which will review whether the Iraqi government has hit security and political benchmarks outlined by Congress.

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While the Pentagon spokesman claims this is not a war room, it certainly has some of the same characteristics of a political war room. It is something that has been needed for some time. The enemy has said that half the war is in the media battle space. It is an area where we have rarely engaged. Gen. Petraeus seems to be more savvy about the need to fight back in the media and shape the narrative about the war. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch who spent a tour as MNFI spokesman seems to be most attuned to making sure his message gets out and he knows how to get attention for it. Others could learn from his example.

Just today, he made it clear that the suggestion of Sen. Warner on sending some troops home by Christmas was not something that would help our mission in Iraq.